The greatest tool you have as an independent agent is your personality and ability to connect and empathize with your clients. However, you can enhance your customer service skills and grow your business more successfully by taking advantage of essential tools and technology for independent insurance agents.
Staying competitive as an independent agent
Our main competitors as independent agents have always been the major insurance companies selling directly to their clients. With advances in technology and the internet being more readily available for everyone, a new competitor has appeared on the market: automated comparison and quote portals!
To stay competitive, we can’t rely on our personality alone; we need to leverage technology to our advantage. The good news is, while consumers love to use the internet to do their own research, they still rely heavily on a person - an independent agent - to assure them of the correct purchasing decision, policy, and carrier.
Tools and technology for independent insurance agents
The essential tools and technology you should be taking advantage of will help you:
- Personalize the client experience
- Evaluate behavior for clients, markets, and trends
- Streamline the buying process
Artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way and is making huge strides in reaching clients in their awareness and interest stage of the buyer journey. When it comes to the consideration and conversion stage, consumers are looking for a human touch.
Technology can help you personalize the experience for clients. AI is still not good at empathizing with the client’s pain points, so you have a big opportunity here to swoop in and connect with a prospect on a personal level.
Data can help you understand your client’s needs. You can use that information to personalize and customize the buying process and lead them towards conversion and a long-lasting relationship.
Understanding market trends and changes
AI is great at predicting what is happening right now. However, technology allows us to analyze market changes and trends and make predictions. Understanding the market will give you credibility and gain client trust once you reach out to help them to help their purchasing decision.
The value of a policy
Online DIY portals that make it easy to buy insurance from your phone while you’re sitting in traffic sounds great in theory, but we know that insurance is a much more complicated process and not just about price.
Using tools and technology to analyze client behavior and market trends allows you to speak directly to their needs and inform them why neither the cheapest nor the most expensive policy are the best. Informing clients on the value of a policy, how it fits their specific and unique insurance needs will inspire confidence in your services and skills and hopefully lead to a new client.
Get Access to Essential Tools and Technology to Grow Your Agency
AAI is one of the fastest-growing insurance networks in the nation. When you join, you become a part of a unified network of independent agents who work together as a team to succeed. Our team of experts provides insights, tools, and technology to grow your agency bigger, faster, more efficiently.
AAI also has a proprietary dashboard that provides real-time data designed specifically to help independent agents run their business more efficiently and profitably in the modern insurance world.
To hear more, contact AAI today.